Motorola Q

Actually that would be hype. T-Mo is going no where but down stream consumer but Cingular will be way ahead of VZW by this summer. Keep watching those tv ads and drinking the kool-aid because VZW is so data-backward it's going to bite them in the ass as the new "smartphone" type devices come out. Something like 7 of the next 10 converged devices will be... you guessed it - GSM. 😁

VZW is data backwards? They have had true 3g highspeed for well over a year now, and have 3g highspeed pda's and blackberry's. Cingular's is just Edge-capable, which is not even close to EVDO in speed. Yes, they will have some High speed devices coming in the future, but it's obvious that they are the ones who are data backwards.

Well Verizon is definitely ahead of Cingular in the high speed department. I would question Sprint vs. Verizon along those lines. Granted Sprint Nextel isn't a highly rated service....the Vision pack at least offers all the goodies for a fair price and it also gives you LIVE TV...not fake clips. Well I mean you can get those clips to, but they actually have channels as well from what I read in a magazine. So I think to compare apples with apples, place VZW along with Sprint and not Cingular.

Either way, I would agree (regardless of product quality) that Cingular does get some very "cool" looking phone, but no matter what anyone says this Motorola Q looks just simply perfect (minus the battery life). It still drives me crazy that it...
(continues)

have you compared it to the new nokia e61.

the difference in the talk time has to do with how the phone the phone transmits:

"the talk time is generally higher in a GSM (TDMA) phone due to its pulse nature of transmission, in comparision with a CDMA phone which transmits all the time."

The other big issue between GSM and CDMA is data/voice handling. If you are having a data session on a GSM phone and a call comes in, the voice gets priority and you get the call. On CDMA data gets priority and you call goes to voicemail. This was one of my biggest complaints about my VZW/Sprint Treos. I thought EVDO was going to solve this but I heard the other day that it did not.

Anyone confirm or deny this?

I had my 815 hooked up to my laptop browsing ebay on my way through an EVDO area the other day and got a call it ended my evdo and let me take the call.

Excuse me? Verizon's technology is far superior to Cingular? Are you not aware that Verizon uses the older CDMA technology? Cingular uses the newer GSM technology that 90% of the rest of the world uses. And as far as data technology, EV-DO is not capable of simultaneous voice AND data calls. You can only do one or the other. Cingular's HSDPA IS capable of doing both. So you can be online checking emails and webpages while you are talking on the phone. So which technology is far better?
Verizon and Sprint are max'd out on their data and voice capabilities with CDMA. Cingular is just scratching the surface of their capabilities with the newer GSM/UMTS technology, and their are far more companies worldwide working on making evern greater enha...
(continues)

That's cute and all, with the 'data speed', and the 'everyone else uses it' business, but when it comes down to it, they are FIRST AND FOREMOST...PHONES.

That CDMA's not supported as widely is a bit of a red herring. At one point the ECC (I think it was them) decided GSM was THE TECHNOLOGY that would be used. Period. That kind of forced the technological direction, at least throughout Europe. Since the European market was chronoligically ahead from an adoption standpoint, it drove a lot of the rest of the market worlwide. Not quite the Capitalist competetive consumer choice driven situation that universally delivers superior product now is it?

And, if coverage is better, the service IS better. Additionally, as a cel...
(continues)

You sound like my Dad. Phone is a phone is a phone... 🙄

Except when it's CDMA and it's in the middle of a data session. And if your on VZW that can be 10 seconds at a time. And god forbid you are using mobile outlook, intellisync or other data hungry application. Then your "Network" puts your call straight to voicemail.

😁

Now, now. I never said all phones were created equal. What I said was the primary purpose of a cellular phone is to be able to make and receive calls when not tethered to a land line. That being the case, THE most important aspect of a cellular phone/service is reception.

CDMA does that better. Period.

If you want to dispute the accuracy of my post, go ahead. If you want to continue to go on about data data data, do it to yourself.

BTW, if you're using EVDO when you receive a call, doesn't the EVDO connection just drop to 1x and hold until you end your call? I guess it could get overburdened once in a while, and hiccup, but to make out like that's the norm is misleading.

Well I guess if all you want is a phone to talk on, then that is fine. And I'm sure CDMA will always be available for that and perform great.

But based on what every cellphone manufacturer was advertising at 3GSM last week, plain old phones are not the future in this industry. The demand in the market is for more advanced features and every manufacturer has to respond to remain competitive. Those features are going to rely heavily on the new data networks and future technology investments. CDMA has been fine up to this point, but it's starting to swing. That's where CDMA will begin to lose out since the rest of the world uses GSM. It's simply a supply and demand issue. There is just more demand for GSM worldwide, so that's where the devel...
(continues)

I agree entirely deetz.

GSM is a more prevalent technology. And you, and others, are right in data being the big push.

Like I said a while back, I think it's too bad that the EEC forced GSM adoption. CDMA is a stronger platform for cellular technology. It simply transmits more strongly.

I see it much like Beta vs. VHS. Beta was a better technology, better sound and clarity ina smaller package. But it was hamstrung to a small enough segment of the market that VHS was developed beyond it.

GSM will get there, no doubt, but it will require more towers, and in building signal boosting.

I am a gadget junkie as well, but there is some basic functionality that I will not give up for the latest and greatest feature. Instead, I'll...
(continues)

Hey there may be good news on the international front for CDMA after all. I read an article that said Vodaphone and Verizon have asked Samsung to develop some "combo" phones. These phones would have both GSM and CDMA capabilities, including both EV-DO AND HSDPA!

It doesn't sound like they will be developing any PDA phones at this time. Just basic cell phones. But if they are well received, some more advanced models may be developed.

This would really be the ultimate phone as it will work everywhere and automatically pick up the strongest signal.

The big stumbling block however will be roaming agreements. It's not likely Cingular will sign an agreement with Verizon, so the GSM capabilities will be useless in the US unless Verizon st...
(continues)

Cool.

We might be able to thank the Koreans to some extent. Since they are all CDMA, and have some wicked handsets, they may be keeping the fire stoked.

I guess the one phone you're talking about is the Samsung i830. When it comes out, it should be the only phone of its kind here in the US. I know there have been others in the past..Vodaphone even, if I remember correctly.

I worked for a Japanese auto manufacturer for a while, and a couple of the Japanese that came across the pond were sporting CDMA/GSM phones. The service they received was from whatever carrier/technology they chose. I believe the phone actually displayed the carrier.

You might be surprised at how readily different carriers would sell their service to compe...
(continues)